Guns and Roses: A Drabble Challenge
by DreamingStarkly
Summary: 30 short tales of Rose Tyler and her trickster roommate on Pete's World. Non-chronological, timey-wimey sequel to Shadow of Your Heart.
1. Beginning

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

One: Beginning

0o0o0o0o0o0

Rose sometimes took the bus from Torchwood after work to a parking garage on the far east outskirts of the city. She liked the anonymity if public transit, as well as the freedom to dwell in her own thoughts rather than having to focus on the road. With the dimension canon she was hardly home anyway, but she would rather have a house on the Channel where she could get away from the stress of work when she could.

But now the stress of work didn't stop when she left the Tower, and the reason for that was a certain blue-eyed and leather-clad humanoid that was her little secret from the rest of Torchwood. For now, at least.

Loki, he had eventually told her to call him. He offered no other background information, which bothered her. He seemed gracious enough to her hospitality, but for all Rose knew he had turned into an elephant while she was gone and destroyed her living room.

So she picked up some dinner from her favorite sandwich place, trying to placate her increasing sense of anxiety as she slowly made her way home.

Her first impression as she peeked through the front door was to find the house quiet and untouched.

"I'm back," she called, closing the door behind her and tossing her briefcase onto the couch.

"No need to shout," a low voice muttered from the kitchen threshold behind her.

"Oh. Sorry. Well, you okay today?"

"Adequate," Loki replied, his gaze even and slightly bored. "I browsed through your library. I hope you don't mind."

"No, have at it." The office was mostly unused, she initially had it as a study room. She stuffed her head with astrophysics, temporal mechanics, and mathematics; anything to finish her A-levels and help her team at Torchwood develop the canon. "You eat supper yet? I'm not a Top Chef or nothin', but I make a mean chicken sandwich."

"I'm fine, Rose. Don't worry yourself." His brows furrowed suddenly, and his nose wrinkled. "What _is _that smell?"

"Chips. Want one?"

The look he gave her was a cross between disdain and amusement.

"Wha'? Don't have deep fryers back home?" she grinned. "Honestly, they aren't poisoned. Here." She popped another in her mouth and offered the bag to him. He simply shook his head and walked into the guest room, where he stayed the rest of the night.

Later she would learn that Loki preferred his chips drenched in ketchup, and that he would tease her about how nasty her breath was after soaking hers in vinegar. But in the beginning everything was like this; cautious, cold, and more than a little curious.


	2. Accusation

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Two: Accusation

0o0o0o0o0o0

Rose knew something was up as soon as her father's butler gave her a strange look when she walked through the door.

"D'you know where my mum is?" she asked.

"Um…Mrs. Tyler is in the sitting room ma'am." Bart hesitated. "Did you spill something?"

"What? No…"

"Oh, never mind. That color suits you better anyway."

Rose was about to reply when she heard her mother laugh, and then the tinny cry of a toddler.

"Oh, Tony. I swear he doesn't give me a moment's rest. I'll be back in a tick, dear."

Rose opened the door to the sitting room just as her mother left out the back door.

Her jaw dropped to see her own face smirking back at her.

"Oh, hello Rose. Have a good day at work?"

"_Loki?_"

"In the flesh. Well, technically yours but—"

"I…You_…what_?"

Rose watched in astonishment as Loki twirled a blond lock around her finger. He pouted at her.

"Your mother called while you were out, she needed some girl talk. I didn't know when you were coming back, so I decided to oblige."

"She is going to kill you."

Loki made a face.

"That would take out all the fun, wouldn't it?"

"_I_ am going to kill you," she threatened. "What made you think that this was at all appropriate?"

"I was bored," he said, as if that was a perfectly legitimate excuse to impersonate his roommate.

"Aliens," she huffed, throwing her hands in the air. "I swear to god."

"That's racism, darling."

Rose almost started to laugh, but paused, horror flooding her as she realized something.

"_Are you wearing my panties?_"

Loki gave her his best shit-eating grin, and then gave a shrill shriek when Rose tackled him to the floor


	3. Restless

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Three: Restless

0o0o0o0o0o0

It wasn't that nightmares kept him up. No, he decided to forgo sleep long ago because of that particular symptom of falling through the Void. It wasn't as if he needed as much sleep as his human roommate, and he also preferred the solace night gave him.

The day, with Rose working at Torchwood, had become all too lonesome the past few weeks. The thought of _something_ else breathing and dreaming in the small house on the sea was better than the gaping maw of silence left when she drove off in the morning. Maybe he should try to convince Rose to get a cat.

Tonight he was reading a text on Midgardian artwork in the ratty armchair (he missed the comfort of his fur-covered furniture rather than this pitiful cotton-stuffed thing, but it sufficed). Rose mostly had books pertaining to the stars and Midgardian technology, and he was hard pressed to find something with taste rather than structure. Not that this Rossetti fellow was particularly tasteful. Loki found his work rather dull, but beggars can't be choosers.

He was interrupted when a soft whine came from Rose's bedroom. Normally he would ignore it, but it was partnered with a sharp vision of gold and red. A chill ran through him when he realized the human in the other room was somehow projecting her dreams. And, if he was being honest, they were sufficiently terrifying.

As quietly as he could, Loki stood and went to her door. When another image of blood and death flashed across his vision, he made a motion to open it, to wake her from the nightmare, but he paused. The last time he entered her room uninvited he received a slap and a warning that she would "kick his ass out into the spaceship of the next slime-based lifeform that decides to visit Earth."

With a muted sigh of frustration, he closed his eyes and search for the link she had unwittingly made with him. A strangled cry came from the other side of the door, and he tensed, waiting. No, she was still dreaming.

Decisively, he ran a sliver of magic along the link and soothed the crackling fear and anger that fueled the demons in her sleep.

Satisfied his landlady was no longer being tormented, he slid down to sit with his back against the wall. If she happened to start crying out again, it would be easier for him to be as close as he could to stop the visions.

_But just for tonight, because I'm feeling generous. And bored,_ he added. _She is a grown woman, she could handle a few bad dreams. _

He stood guard again two nights later when he heard a cry from her room, and the night after that, and every night Rose's sleep was disturbed until she jumped the Void and he fell to the Chitauri.

But it was just out of boredom, of course.


	4. Snowflake

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Four: Snowflake

0o0o0o0o0o0

"I've had worse, trust me. I don't think it's the ashes of a hundred spaceships this time."

"It's cold. I don't like the cold."

"Just for a second, _please_? Look, this is our last night in Moscow. I want to see the city."

"Ugh. Okay, _okay_! Stop tugging me. Goodness, you are like a child when you get impatient."

"…See? It's not that cold. Oh! Look at that! Snow is so beautiful, with the lights…"

"Hmm."

"What's got you all twisted? Oh! Oh, erm…Loki…"

"_What?_"

"Erm. Your face…"

"I told you. I don't like the cold."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"Care to explain?"

"Let's just say this universe has cut me off from a certain…cosmetic magic."

"And the cold triggers it?"

"Something like that."

"Well, I like blue. Blue is a good color."

"Looks better on you…"

"What?"

"Nothing, Rose. Can we just hurry to the nearest pub or something and get out of this blasted snow?"

"Then here, take my hat. You'll be warmer."

"I'm not going to take—oh fine. Just stop looking at me like that. There. Is…is it going away now?"

"Yeah, your cheeks are a little purple though. Ha. Thought I was goin' to have to roll you to the Juicing Room for a second there."

"What the hell is—no, never mind. I don't want to know. Glorious. Oh, and Rose?"

"Yes?"

-POOF-

-SCREECH-

"You know, I think I might get used to these Midgardian winters."

"LOKI YOU BASTARD. THAT'S BLOODY _COLD_."

"Eheheheheh."

0o0o0o0o0o0


	5. Haze

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Five: Haze

0o0o0o0o0o0

The physical pain was tolerable this time, but Loki knew that only meant something worse was about to be inflicted upon him. The primitive whips tore at his naked shoulders and spine until he panted. He bared his teeth as another lash bit at his flesh, shaking as blood and sweat ran into his eyes.

"Is he ready?"

A chill went through him. It was the Other. And there was only one reason the Other came to visit him during these sessions. He steeled himself, but of course, he wasn't ready.

He was never ready.

The force of the Other's magic was overwhelming, it dug into his every pore, and Loki hated his helplessness. Images of his childhood, his family, the battles he fought all flashed in his mind until it finally landed on—

_No_, he almost begged aloud. _Stop_.

Loki held his breath and then cursed himself for reacting. As the barren rock he was stranded on came back into focus, he forced himself to keep his gaze level. The Other had paused in the onslaught, cocking his head to the side. His sharp-toothed grin was full of malice.

"Is this love, Asgardian?"

Panic made him light-headed, but if anything his poker face was unruffled.

"What, the mortal? She is nothing," Loki sneered. "I think you know you have better material to work than_her_. Or are you so unimaginative you think using some idiot human will break me this time?"

"Oh, but I like this…"

Memories of shared laughter, a quiet evening in the kitchen, a soft brush of blonde hair behind an ear. Loki tried his best to stifle the images, to keep just this small bit to himself.

"Loki Laufeyson, in love with a mortal. You, who have been among gods. This is the basest sentimentality," the Other hissed. "This is a child's prayer. _Pathetic_. Oh, this should be _fun._"

The chains around his mind tightened, and Loki trembled as the Other continued to whisper in his ear.

The haze grew steadily worse. It was a war in its own right trying to fight off the poison in his mind. Even as he fell back to Midgard and set the course to escape Thanos's clutches in his moments of clarity, the Other's words rang clear in his ears, for hours and days and centuries.

_You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers. _On and on and on until he didn't know if it was the mad magician or Loki himself who screamed this in his mind. He vaguely recalled saying it aloud, in the midst of a flash of anger and grief. There was red, and talk of love. He snapped, and that foolishness nearly ruined his plans. _You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors._

Even when he looked upon her face once more, a new face with a smile so close to the last it made his chest ache, the words echoed.

_But they are part of you and they will never go away._


	6. Flame

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Six: Flame

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Rose."

"Erm…Yeah?"

"Was that your fault?"

"I was sure the neutro-temporal loop was controlled."

Loki sighed, passing a hand over his face in the dark. He had warned her that bringing her little projects back home was courting disaster. The technology she was working with was highly unstable, and it took a promise of two weeks' dishwashing duty for him to concede. Having the lights blow out was the least of his worries, but it certainly posed an annoyance.

"Hold on, I'll try the circuit breaker," she called out. He rolled his eyes. "Give me a mo'…"

He heard shuffling in the office-turned-workshop as Rose put down whatever she was tinkering with.

"Rose, it's pitch black. You might—"

"No, I got it! It's just—" CRASH. "FUCKING BLOODY FUCK. DAMMIT."

Without thinking, Loki conjured a flame over his hand so he could get to her. The light it gave off showed a fallen Rose Tyler holding her shin and cursing the air blue. Part of him was impressed at the range of the woman's vocabulary, but mostly he was concerned about the blood now dripping down her leg. Her eyes were screwed shut in pain.

"Rose, let me see," he urged, flicking his wrist to send the light above them so he could examine her injury. Her mouth dropped open when she saw the source of light. He silently cursed at himself for exposing his powers this soon, but it was too late now.

"What…how did you do that?"

"Never you mind," he snapped at her, forcing her bloodied hands away from her leg. He let out a soft exhale when he saw that the cut wasn't deep. "We need to clean that."

"First aid is in—"

"The bathroom. I know," Loki replied, taking another critical look at the wound across her shin.

"Well?" Rose looked at him impatiently. He rolled his eyes and, with another wave, made a damp cloth from the kitchen appear in his hand. No use hiding his abilities now.

"Just…be still."

As gently as he could, Loki wiped away the blood. A surge of magic and a few soft strokes later, Rose's skin was neat and unmarred. Not wishing to look at the human's face, Loki stood and busied himself by lighting a few candles Rose had stashed under the television.

_Stupid_, he chastised. All he wanted was one person to treat him as an equal. _It could have been so much easier…_

"Thank you. I guess I owe you a little more than dishwashin', eh?"

Loki's eyes flicked to Rose, who was sitting on the couch now and grinning sheepishly at him. A bit of his frustration faded.

"If you promise not to be so careless from now on," he told her, the corner of his mouth twitching, "I will call it even."

"Deal," she replied. "Listen, erm. I know you aren't all eager about answerin' questions about yourself, but…"

Loki looked up at the ceiling, waiting for her to finish.

"Pretty cool, to be honest." Loki stared at her. "Can all of you do that? Back home?"

"No. I am what you would call a…specialist."

"Shame, we could use a few more of you back in Torchwood."

"Not everyone shares your enthusiasm," he replied wryly.

"Listen, mate. I've seen a lot weirder, trust me. Magic, miracles, maroon monkeys…"

"Monsters?" he murmured. Rose paused, and studied him for a moment. Loki felt a sudden tingle shoot down his spine, and swallowed. It was there again, that feeling that she could see right through him.

"Yeah, I've seen my fair share," she said, her expression soft, almost sympathetic.

His pulse was pounding as she leaned forward and took his hand and squeezed.

"Lucky that I have you then, eh? I need someone to have my back when the evil scrap metal attacks."

"I am nothing but your humble servant." Loki laughed. "Well, maybe not for another three weeks."

"Oi! I said two!" she reached over and smacked his shoulder. Loki laughed again, and it seemed to him a foreign sound. To be honest, he had little mirth these days. But sometimes, for some reason, the clumsy and fragile and strange mortal in front of him could erase the darkness. He gazed at her, his expression soft and thoughtful. The candlelight played off of her skin in the most delightful way.

He realized then that she was really quite beautiful.

"You are a remarkable woman, Rose Tyler."

She smiled at him then, and Loki couldn't help but mirror her.

"You're not too average yourself, Guns."

0o0o0o0o0o0

A/N - So I'm just starting out this new username, seeing if you guys like this so far. Let me know what you like/don't like. I would love to see some reviews if you want more. I am going to be posting a full-length sequel within the next two weeks or so. Which is why I'm churning out two drabbles a day! But yeah. I love these two so much. I've been doing a lot of stuff on Tumblr for the Whovengers fandom, and wanted to share on here! I'll probably post a few other short oneshots I've done, if any of you are interested. Thank you for reading! We have a long ways ahead of us.


	7. Formal

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Seven: Formal

or

Two times Loki attended a formal event with Rose + the one time she went with the Doctor

0o0o0o0o0o0

"That was tedious."

Oh, so says the man who looked like he could dine with the Queen herself and not miss a beat?

"Come off it, Mum was doe-eyed over you," Rose said, closing the car door behind her. "Pete looked like he was about to knock your lights out, t'be honest."

"I have no idea what got into him. Was it the jacket? Such a shame. It suited your father so well, too."

"I don't know how you did it, but you and I both know Pete didn't leave it in the punch bowl."

"What an accusation!" he said, putting a hand over his heart in mock despair. "I was dancing with you at the time, if you recall."

"You're really good at this mysterious, charming stranger rubbish."

"Charming, am I?" Loki's eyes glinted playfully as he stole a kiss on the top of her hand. Rose swatted at him, blushing and laughing as she started the car.

"Only when you aren't being a prat."

"But that's the fun part, my dear Rose."

She rolled her eyes and pulled out of the garage park to make the long journey home.

"What were you 'n Mickey chattin' about for so long, anyway?"

Rose thought she caught a flash of hesitation in his expression, but it was gone so quickly into his usual cool nonchalance she assumed that she just imagined it.

"Oh nothing. The boy was talking some nonsense about your work. Hardly caught a word of it."

0o0o0o0o0o0

"You're blond."

"So are you. Shall we continue pointing out the obvious, or would you like to get to the ceremony on time?"

"Why are you blond?"

"I am to be introduced as your cousin, am I not? Might as well play the part."

Rose huffed, then turned back to the mirror, fluffing her hair over her shoulders. Sometimes it was just impossible to reason with Loki, and even more pointless to try and decipher the man's motives. She soon lost track of his magically-induced blond self after Tony's christening. When she finally laid eyes on him, he was talking with Frank, the lead engineer on the canon project. Frank looked like he had one too many glasses of wine.

"Loki, strange name."

"It's, ah…Nordic."

"Norway, eh? Been up there once or twice on the job. The sea's too cold for swimming."

"I hear you are a technician," Loki urged, placing another glass of wine in front of the man.

"Engineer, rather. You wouldn't believe the stuff I get to work with. I'm tellin' you, we'll have all of time 'n space at our whim by the end of the year."

"That so?"

"Loki, can I steal you for a minute?"

They had a spat that day. Rose told him off, and he promised not to meddle in Torchwood business. He claimed the conversation was harmless, but Rose couldn't help but feel that he was up to something. She eventually let it slide as paranoia. He was always up to something, anyway.

Months later, after her last look over Bad Wolf Bay, she would work out that he slipped Frank's ID in his pocket so he could access Torchwood and steal a dimension canon. Part of her was angry for using her influence and her friends, but another part of her understood the need to leave a place that wasn't home.

She supposed he was lucky in that sense; she had to make a home out of Pete's World and a new life with a new Doctor. She just hoped Loki could find a way back to his old one.

0o0o0o0o0o0

He was neither proper, nor charming in any conventional way, nor would he lie to her to gain something for himself. Rose loved these things about her human Doctor, but she had to admit that he and Loki had at least one thing in common. They both looked damn fine in a suit.

"You know, the last time I attended a wedding the groom was feeding Huon particles to the bride in order to feed spider children at the center of the Earth. _Well,_ Racnoss children."

Rose turned to see _her_ groom standing behind her, one hand behind his back and another stretched out in front of him.

"Care to dance?" he asked her. Rose smiled and took his hand.

"As long as there's no insects involved."

"Can't promise you that. In fact, I think I saw one or two ants eying the nibbles in the corner. Maybe we should have had an inside reception. Come to think of it, I don't like the look of the sky. See, there, in the south-south east? Do those look like rainclouds to you? Because—"

"Doctor."

"Hmm?"

"Shut up."

The Doctor's hand was warm in hers as she leaned forward to kiss him.


	8. Companion

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Eight: Companion

0o0o0o0o0o0

She was green in many ways, this TARDIS. Hardly a seedling, really. She had seen much less and much more than her mother coral. This universe was sparsely populated, no Time Lords save for the one inside the brain of a human. Her Doctor and his Rose took care of her as long as their short lives lasted. The Doctor had tinkered with her insides enough to allow her to feed off of this Time Vortex, but she always felt a little out of sync with the rest of this Time and Space.

She still held the memories of her mother—the Blue One—and like the human Doctor, she had whole new adventures. It was exciting and alarming all at the same time. There were frustrations at first; the Doctor was intent on learning all he could about the history of a completely different universe, and was a little too eager to get started. More than once his antics nearly had her thrown in the middle of a black hole, and even a TARDIS with an accelerated growth pattern has to go through adolescence at some point.

But as the years went on, not all the adventures dealt with saving the Earth and the many worlds that exist beyond it. No, for a time the only running the green TARDIS had felt were the tiny feet exploring her depths, something the Blue One had not felt in centuries.

This was something the green box felt akin with Rose, this short and beautiful life with the Doctor. The Doctor was mistaken. These men and women weren't his companions, he was theirs'. These wonderful and tiny strays needed a guide to the stars, and there he was, ready to whisk them off into planets unknown.

But all adventures must come to an end. The Doctor's children and grandchildren became wrapped up in their human lives. One or two took her for a spin when they felt that urgent need to run, but the death of the Doctor seemed to diminish the notion. However, the loss only spurred Rose to go farther and longer. This TARDIS was not used to traveling with only one, and it saddened her. The TARDIS tried her best to give the Valient Child the best of this universe, but it was over oh too soon.

For the TARDIS knew what was to come. This short and beautiful life filled with laundry and babies and chips drenched in vinegar was to be the last and the only human life for Rose.

But it was just the beginning for the Bad Wolf, the green TARDIS knew, and the Companion in the TARDIS would need to run once again.

Ragnarok was coming, and the Wolf must devour the King.


	9. Move

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Nine: Move

0o0o0o0o0o0

"I told you to stay home!"

"Oh, and get the call that you're lying in a ditch somewhere with an ice shard in your skull? You should be thanking me. Ungrateful wench."

"_What_ did you just call me?"

Rose grabbed the front of his tattered shirt, her teeth bared and eyes flashing with anger. Loki coolly threw her hands off.

"Do not touch me, mortal. I have had enough of your childish tantrum."

"_Childish tantrum_? I wasn't the one who flew completely off the handle. What is _wrong _with you?"

The two of them glared at each other for another moment before Rose scoffed and stalked off to her bedroom.

"I'm going to take a shower," she snapped over her shoulder. "I suggest you do the same. You reek. Shave that damn beard while you're at it, yeah?"

She slammed the door behind her before Loki could let off another retort, hard enough that it bounced back open slightly. She didn't close it however, she just headed straight to the adjacent bathroom and threw that door closed and locked it. The sound of running water started. Fuming, Loki stomped over to the couch and threw himself down. As the anger simmered down, however, a chill went through him.

He had overreacted, that much was true. He was only annoyed when he chased after Rose. _Always wandering off. I wonder if she did this with her precious Doctor, _he had thought. What he wasn't expecting was the terror and rage that overwhelmed his senses when he came upon a lone Jotun towering in front of his blue-and-yellow human.

Perhaps the Frost Giant had fallen through the same rip in the Realms as Jotunheim was being destroyed by the Bifrost. Perhaps he was sent to kill Loki. The reason didn't matter to Loki as he slayed his kinsman. Just a frightening urge to erase every trace of what was, what _he_ was.

Passing a hand over his face, Loki leaned over and turned on the record player. He had acquired a taste for certain Midgardian music, something Rose teased him relentlessly about.

He needed to clear his head.

As the guitar picked up and a rough voice started to croon words of lost love and broken lives, Loki leaned back and closed his eyes. Rose would of course try to pry the reason for his violence. Part of him wanted to tell her, wanted to finally let loose his fury and grief of everything he had earned and then ruined. Maybe she would understand, comfort him even.

A hope of a mad man and a fool, certainly.

After a while, he faintly registered the faucet in Rose's bathroom turn off and the door open. He turned his head to look into her room.

Through the crack in her door, Loki saw a pair of bare legs moving to the rhythm of the blues. As the blonde moved further into view, he saw that she was using a towel to dry her hair and was swaying in a dark blue robe. Something dark and desperate stirred in his heart. Throwing caution and the thin line of propriety he cultivated with this woman, he made his way over to Rose's room.

"I am sorry."

Rose started, snapping to attention as she laid eyes on the god leaning on her doorframe. Something in his face must have stopped her from yelling at him to get out of her room, because she slowly dropped the towel on her bed.

"You okay?" she asked. Loki shifted, glancing at the ground as he searched for words. A rare occasion. No, he didn't want to tell her. He couldn't.

"Dance with me?" he finally blurted out.

"What?"

"Please." Loki hated the note of desperation in his voice, and cleared his throat. He straightened and held out a hand. He made sure his tone was neutral this time. "It's been a long day, and I do not wish to quarrel with you."

Rose gave him a long and calculating look, but her expression softened.

"Me too."

Loki softly pulled Rose's hand toward him as the music changed again. Rose cocked a brow in his direction, obviously suspecting his magic. He gave her a quick grin that didn't reach his eyes and placed a hand on her waist. Rose stepped closer to him, enough so he could feel her warm breath in his ear. Her hand squeezed his, whether to signal him to start moving his feet or to give comfort he wasn't sure.

The pain in his chest loosened as they swayed around Rose's plush carpet, but only just. His eyes closed as he pulled her closer, her damp and fragrant hair brushing his cheek. He was afraid she would protest, but she only rested her chin on his shoulder.

If Rose felt the tears on her neck, she didn't say a word.

_"Time after time, I've tried to walk away_

_But it's not easy, when your soul is torn in two_

_So I resign myself to it everyday_

_Now all I can do is leave it up to you."_

0o0o0o0o0o0

Songs: "Evenin'" by Gary Moore, "Lies" by the Black Keys, "Muddy Water Blues" by Paul Rodgers.

Lyrics: **Stop by Joe Bonamassa**


	10. Silver

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Ten: Silver

0o0o0o0o0o0

Rose Tyler kissed me today.

Oh, come now. Do not get excited, mortal. I am _hardly_ a blushing virgin, and it was _hardly_ a kiss if I really consider it. Only the product of exhilaration and triumph, I assume, as you humans are so inclined to overreact to every accomplishment in your pitifully dull lives.

But I am getting ahead of myself. You should know that, for once, I did not encourage or manipulate Rose into showing such…affection. I was minding my own business, funnily enough.

Yes, it actually does happen. Shock and awe.

Anyway, I suppose this incident could be blamed on Torchwood. Rose had left me in the house—alone—for the past two weeks to work day and night in the Tower. They apparently had a break-though in the dimension canon, so who was I to protest?

I was sitting in the living room, watching a Midgardian black-and-white film, when the front door opened. I stood to greet her. I am not so unaffected by Rose to not treat her with some respect, and I was truly glad to see her. She…alright. The little blue-and-yellow woman actually can be quite charming.

It was unpleasant for me, then, to see her so distraught.

"Welcome back," I murmured as I watched her throw her bag and keys on the floor unceremoniously. Her plaited hair was coming undone, and her eyes were tight with frustration. The blue leather jacket she wore like a shield hung open over a stained shirt.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Nah. I'm just—" Rose passed a hand over her face and sighed heavily. "Just need a nice hot shower."

"Trouble at the office," I assumed, crossing my arms across my chest.

"That obvious?" she smirked half-heartedly.

"You are never good at hiding your emotions, Roses." Stupid moniker, really, but she seemed to relax a little more.

A tinny sound—the landline—called out.

"Ugh. That's probably Torchwood. I don't want to deal with those arseholes right now." She raised her voice to shout at the phone. "Leave me alone for five minutes, can you, you bastards?"

The answering machine beeped.

"_Rose, it's Mickey. Call me back. We just got a readin' on the helix junction. Rose, I think it works. Ted just jumped for a solid ten minutes, no misses in time or place…nothin'. We're gonna run a few more tests. We need you first thing in the mornin'. You did it Rose. We can start findin' 'im for sure now._"

"Well, how about—"

I was interrupted by a high-pitched squealing noise. I was unable to tease Rose for her reaction, however, because I suddenly found myself being dragged by my lapels towards her mouth.

There were certain times I suspected something was different about this brilliant, stubborn human. When Rose would brush my arm reached over for the remote, or when I handed her a mug of tea in the morning, or when she would just look at me, I would feel a shock of power.

But this time, just for a moment as her lips slid over mine and I felt my heart leap into my throat, I swore I saw the turn of the whole of the universe. In a breathless flash of gold the rush of time was suspended.

_What was she?_

And then it was over.

"Oh, god…I'm…that wasn't—" she paused, hand over her mouth, eyes as large as chariot wheels as she stumbled backwards. And then, to my dismay, she started to laugh.

"What?" I demanded, sure she was about to make some comment or another about my breath.

"Your _face_," she giggled. "I've never seen you so…so flustered! Cat caught your silver tongue?" She grinned that smile—sometimes I knew she must have some magic in her, for when _that_ tongue sticks out between her teeth—

"I am not…_flustered_," I insisted, but of course she just laughed all the more. "Rose—!"

"Forget it," she crooned, slapping me on the shoulder before heading towards her bedroom a tad too quickly and cheerfully. "I gotta take this call. Throw a pizza or somethin' in the oven, eh?"

And that was that. Like nothing happened.

But maybe…I thought I could spot a mark of affection within her.

No. Utter foolishness. Perhaps it is for the best. It would be too difficult to sway the golden girl away from her wayward Doctor. I needed to secure a dimension canon, after all. What _woman _could be worth turning away all that I worked for to return to?

Well.

Then again…

Was I _ever_ one to ignore a challenge?


	11. Prepared

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Eleven: Prepared

0o0o0o0o0o0

It was another long day at Torchwood. Some idiot decided to offend a rather influential diplomat from the planet Kckro. Rose had _insisted_ that the employees who interacted with all aliens should be given a briefing on transcultural etiquette. Apparently there was a screw-up in HR, thus leaving Rose to avert what could have turned into an intergalactic nuclear crisis.

She had told Loki that she wouldn't be home until the following afternoon, but that was before Pete ordered his daughter to leave the building before she strangled said idiot.

Little did she know that this small under-communication issue would spawn the one thing that could have brightened her evening.

"_So prepare for the coup of the century_

_Be prepared for the murkiest scum…"_

_…the hell?_

She silently closed the door behind her, not entirely willing to believe what she was hearing. But as she stood in the living room, her mouth twisted into a grin.

"_Meticulous planning_

_Tenacity spanning_

_Decades of denial_

_Is simply why I'll—"_

Rose slowly crept down the hallway, unwilling to interrupt this rare and exciting opportunity to catch real-life Disney villain Loki.

"_Be king undisputed, respected, saluted,"_ he called out. The black-haired god was entirely engrossed in his musical number. So much so, in fact, Rose was slightly concerned. She had seen more than one alien with that exact world-domination-manic-grin._"And seen for the wonder I am."_

Part of her was surprised the normally acutely aware Loki didn't catch the swing of his door as she entered his room.

"_Yes my teeth and ambitions are bared…" _he sang, throwing his arms out dramatically.

"_Be prepaaaared!" _Loki cut off with an unbecoming squeak as Rose chimed in. With a speed and accuracy that surprised Rose out of the gales of laughter, he flicked something at the VCR and Scar's silhouette faded to black. A marble clattered to the floor.

"Nice," Rose muttered before cocking a brow in his direction. Loki noticeably swallowed.

"Need something?" he asked, his voice a notch higher than usual.

"An encore, perhaps?" she teased. Loki groaned and sat on the edge of his bed.

"I would insist that you forget what you just saw, but I know you well enough that all the dishwashing in the world couldn't tempt you from using it against me at every possible occasion."

"Nope," Rose chirped cheerfully as she plopped down beside him. "Your plans to control the lion throne have been foiled." Her grin faded with the suddenly dark look that crossed Loki's face. He swiftly stood and strode to the VCR, keeping his back to her.

"Do you mind? I am planning to retire." Rose pursed her lips at his sudden sharp demeanor.

"You alrigh'?"

She saw his shoulders tense then relax. When Loki turned back to her, his expression was calm and he was smiling softly.

"Of course, Roses. Just tired. If you don't mind…?"

She studied him for a moment, noting the white knuckles grasping _The Lion King_ video tape–an obvious contradiction to his even tone. She stood, realizing that she was not going to get the truth from him tonight.

"Right. Yeah. Sure. G'night, then." He nodded, his smile tight. She paused at the doorway, though, finally deciding something she had been skirting around for weeks. "Loki?"

"Yes?"

"I don't know what happened before you knocked me outta the sky—"

"I think it was _you_ who knocked into _me_."

"Whatever. What I'm tryin' to say is…I know a thing or two about aliens with power issues." Loki's arms were crossed in front of him, and his expression was beginning to turn grim. "Try to find somethin' else to channel that power, yeah?"

"I'll keep that in mind," Loki muttered, his attitude visibly soured. Rose sighed.

"Cross singin' off that list, though," she told him, attempting to lighten the mood. "You got no future there, that's for sure." His frown didn't budge.

"Very well. Can I get some privacy, now?"

Rose obliged the agitated Loki, apologizing before exiting his bedroom. She didn't blame him for reacting the way he did, she _had_ just tried to breach a subject that was obviously too sensitive for her roommate.

But she still couldn't help but feel a clinging sense of foreboding.


	12. Knowledge

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Twelve: Knowledge

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Loki? _Loki Odinson_?"

"I never caught his first name."

The picture clattered to the table. It was a posed shot of Loki, Rose, and the rest of her family at a Vitex function.

"Did he hurt you?" Rose was taken aback from the dangerous tone that suddenly colored the Doctor's voice. She grabbed at the picture and held it behind her back defensively. Part of her was embarrassed to have the picture of her old…roommate still around for the Doctor to see. Well, she hadn't exactly expected to return.

"What? No, of course not! Loki would never hurt me or my family. _What_ is goin' on, Doctor?"

"Oh Rose. I'm so sorry. I—" the Doctor raked a hand through his already disheveled hair. "He's on S.H.I.E.L.D's 'Most Wanted' list. Never liked having to get involved with S.H.I.E.L.D. Too trigger happy, horrible food, essentially the American UNIT. Director Nick Fury was the head of operations at the time. Shame about the eye—"

"Doctor."

"Right, right, I was gettin' to that. Anyway, about six months ago—by most reckonings at least—I picked up a distress call from New Mexico. S.H.I.E.L.D was handling an alien attack there, a number of people were killed by a Destroyer sent by Loki of Asgard. Thor, Loki's brother, was able to stop it before it wiped out everything. Took me a bit to find out what species they were exactly, and boy—"

"Six months? Six months _exactly?_ Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Six months. Six months ago she was sideswiped by an alien who shared a name with a criminal on a military organization's black list.

"W-where is Asgard?" Rose stuttered, trying to piece together what the Doctor was saying with what she just lived with every day for the past six months.

"Asgard is a planet in a universe system known as the Yggdrasil. Populated by the Aesir…Very, very old and very powerful race. I remember being told that they were distant cousins of Gallifreyans. The Aesir helped the Time Lords out a coupla times way back when the universes were easy to traverse. They cut themselves off just as the Time War started. Smart move, I suppose. But you probably know them better as the Norse gods. They fought a race known as the Jotun across what was then Norway and Denmark. Probably why they've fallen into mankind's myths—severing of contact and all. Rose…" He hesitated. "Loki was a prince, the second son of Odin Allfather—leader of the Aesir. He was better known as the Trickster, the Prince of Lies, Silvertongue. I—Loki was known to do pranks, even at the cost of life, but I never heard him to be outright malicious. Whatever happened to make him try to level a town, kill his brother…"

_I guess we'll never know now, _was the unspoken sentiment.

Rose stood suddenly, her head pounding with the knowledge that she had been completely dragged by the nose.

"I—I need a minute."

The Doctor made a motion to follow her, but recoiled due to the desperate look Rose shot at him over her shoulder as she rushed towards the door.

She had walked until she hit the small town on the outskirts of London, just a few miles west of her house by the Channel. A minute turned into several hours where she had to decline five calls and ten texts from her mother and the Doctor. It was childish and irresponsible, especially after the week they just got through. Perhaps it was the strain of saving the world once more, but she just couldn't bring herself to care.

The friend she knew was gone, so soon after her Doctor and so many others. Too soon after her own_universe._

_It's not fair._

But it made sense. The lies, the secrecy…oh god, she let him have access to the dimension canon. Was he going to wreck havok on Earth again? On Asgard?

Maybe she should have turned him over to Torchwood when she had the chance.

Finally, when the guilt crept in to force her to face her choices, Rose went back home. To a new life, a new Doctor. She prepared herself for the usual rant about wandering off from the Doctor, and an earful about screening her calls from her mum.

To her surprise, Rose only found a silent new new new Doctor (he had convinced Jackie that Rose just needed space), a warm hug, and her favorite tea waiting for her.

His generosity made her want to cry, but she just accepted all three with a watery smile and an earnest thank you.

It was suddenly much easier to imagine this one life. The Doctor and Rose, in a brand new TARDIS. As it should be.


	13. Denial

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Thirteen: Denial

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Oh, god, Loki. It couldn't have been that bad."

"I have no quarrel with your race, but I think your mating rituals are primitive and savage."

"It was just a drink, for a few hours," Rose pointed out, obviously still trying to keep a straight face. "What happened?"

The last time the daughter of a merchant bought him a drink, it was poisoned. But Rose didn't have to know that.

"The Lady Debra found that my jacket was unappealing to her tastes," Loki stated wryly as he picked at his lapels for emphasis. "She felt it her duty to remove it from my person. She went after my shirt next, but at that point I deemed it necessary to remove myself from her presence if I wanted my dignity intact. You can stop laughing now."

The blonde was making snorting noises at this point, and seemed unwilling to let up, so Loki sighed and sprawled onto the couch.

"I am thrilled to see how much my discomfort pleases you."

"Oh, c'mon Loki. You picked a bad egg. There are plenty more fish in the sea. Hey, you should meet Rita, she works with the medic section in Torchwood. Nice girl, smart, witty—"

"Rose Tyler, your skills in matchmaking are obvious lacking," Loki told her as he peeled off his jacket, tossing it over the coffee table. "Stop trying so hard to marry me off. It's only been four months. Are you truly sick of me already?"

"Wha—no. That's not . It's just—"

"Just what?"

"You've seemed…lonely. I dunno, with my work and all, I thought you could use a little fun. Get out a bit more."

"I could easily get a pet, if you're so worried about companionship."

"That's not what I mean, Loki," Rose crossed her arms in front of her as she sat on the arm of the couch.

"Relationships are messy. Trust is too valuable to waste on humans."

"Well, you trust me, don't you?"

Loki hesitated for a moment. Oh, this was broaching on dangerous territory.

"Yes."

"Then at some point you're gonna have to trust other humans," Rose insisted. "Make yourself useful to us, even."

A sharp pang went through him as his long-buried doubts and anger surfaced. Of course she would want him to leave at some point. He had hoped the dimension canon would be functional a lot sooner, but he couldn't lie to himself that he wasn't getting comfortable in this house. With this golden mortal. And now she expected him—a_god _by all rights_—_to be but a servant ant to the rest of them?

"As you wish, Rose." The tone was deadly calm, but somehow Rose (with her uncanny ability to see right through him at the most inopportune times) caught on.

"Loki." His eyes flitted to his shin, where Rose had placed a hand. She was always so _physical._ Loki couldn't decide whether he liked it or not. "I'm happy to have you here as long as you need to adjust to living on Earth, but I just think you'll be happier giving yourself a chance to make something of yourself here. I can get you a job at Torchwood if you're interested, even in the branch offices. You don't have to stay here. I mean, if you don't want to."

Why did she sound like she was afraid he wanted to leave? Oh. _Oh._

_Interesting, _he mused.

"I am happy enough here. For now," Loki murmured. "Earth can survive without my guidance for a little while longer."

"Is that so?" Rose giggled.

"Of course," he said, reaching over and patting the hand on his leg. "You are companionship enough, Rose." He reveled in the way she suddenly flushed and pulled away.

"But maybe I _should_ get that cat. At least it wouldn't pester me over the dishes."


	14. Wind

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Fourteen: Wind

0o0o0o0o0o0

The ancients once believed that the god known as Loki was the cleverest of the Aesir; good enough to make the giantess laugh after the murder of her father, quick enough to steal the hair off Lady Sif's head, and smart enough to steal away with the nymph Sigyn on her wedding night—disguised as her would-be-husband.

Words weave fates and unravel them; things said and those left unsaid can give you unspeakable power over others or destroy you. This Loki knows probably more than any being in the cosmos. The eons of his existence are marked with his wordsmithing—battles won and lost, women (and horses) bedded, and kings overthrown.

But of all the tales of the Trickster God, there is one he would regret as he howled curses to the winds of the Void. There is one story the universe will remember until time is unwritten. There is one myth that tells of the time Loki was far too clever for his own good. There is one tale that sees our Ice Prince face theFenrisúlfr, the Hróðvitnir,the Bad Wolf, the one who sees and listens.

And it begins, strangely enough, in the middle.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Do you trust me?"

"You actually trust _me_ to tell you the truth?"

"Of course."

"Then…no," he teased good-heartedly, as a shard of pain stabbed through his heart. "Why do you trust me?"

"Why not?"

_Because you should not trust me. I do not deserve it._

_"_Because I stole the last biscuit, that's why."

"I'm gonna kill you."


	15. Order

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Fifteen: Order

0o0o0o0o0o0

It was little things at first.

"Loki, did you do the dishes?"

"Yes, of course."

"Are you sure?"

"Is there's something wrong?"

"There is a smudge on every single plate in the same spot. Is this some kind of joke?"

Not two weeks later she realized her favorite DVDs had gone missing, causing her to spend more and more time watching new films (usually with Loki).

Once he met her on her way out of Torchwood after he explored London. He told her he liked her hair down and then handed her some chips smothered in ketchup, even though he knew damned well she preferred vinegar.

And then it became more obvious.

No single item in his possession was ever in the same place for a day.

A single mutter that ignited a war.

"I dare say your horns could use a trimming."

"HOW DARE YOU DISRESPECT THE YURN OF KONTAK!"

Another that pacified the most terrible battles.

"I believe you will find the Kontaki are partial to Yorkshire Pudding. How about you send someone over with a care package? This is getting quite tedious."

After a while she realized part of this strange alien god thrived on a twisted order, a chaotic structure or morality, based on some wild, tangled sense that she could make neither heads nor tails of. All Rose knew was that Loki somehow—often against all odds—always got what he wanted.

Years later, when the wisdom of age came upon her (after the Doctor passed but before the Bad Wolf returned) Rose realized that the Asgardian was trying to survive the only way he knew how.

But it wasn't just that.

The little tiffs that broke the tension between strangers, like washing the dishes.

Stealing her movies so he could watch some with her.

Giving her the wrong chips so there would be more time for them to walk around the corner to her favorite chip shop and maybe (usually) sit down and have dinner there too.

Making sure he was the one who set the example that pissing off the aliens with high tempers and misunderstood customs is a bad idea. Because he could handle it.

He wasn't just trying to survive. He was trying to survive with _her_.


	16. Thanks

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Sixteen: Thanks

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Da! Da! Lookit! I finished it!"

"Doctor, you didn't—"

"Oh c'mon Rose. He had to learn to make his own someday."

Rose sighed, running a hand through her hair as she walked back into the house.

_I suppose it could be worse, _she thought as she grabbed neckties and Tinker toys. She didn't even want to consider the time Al had nicked the sonic and managed to climb out of his crib. The boy was too smart for his own good.

A lot like his dad.

"Can we go chase aliens now?" her six-year-old asked as the Doctor and him entered the house.

"I think you're a bit too young for that," the Doctor told him. Before Alistair could pout, his dad swung him into his arms. "_Well_, at least the TARDIS is too young for that, maybe. We still need a few more test runs, don't we?"

"But Daaaaa…" Al whined. Rose grinned at the Doctor, who shot her a pleading look.

"Why don't we all visit the ol' girl?" Rose asked. "I'm sure she's missed Al." The last time they brought the child he was still in diapers, and something told her the green box enjoyed having the young one waddle around the grating.

The drive wasn't long; the Doctor and her purchased a warehouse to the north a few years before Alistair came along. The Doctor didn't like leaving the growing TARDIS so far from home, but it was off Torchwood's radar, and the Doctor still didn't quite trust them.

The TARDIS hummed in recognition of the Tylers as they entered the warehouse. Alistair squealed in excitement and wriggled out of Rose's hand to run over and pet her wood siding. Apparently this TARDIS's chameleon circuit refused to work as much as the mother's.

The Doctor took a moment to check inside and remove any loose hardware that could hurt Al (although the child was quickly becoming a prodigy in his own right), and then opened the door wide for his son to scrabble through.

"Oi! Don't get lost!" the Doctor barked after Al as the boy slipped off down the TARDIS's corridors to explore. "She's still working on movin' everything around!"

A laugh eerily similar to his own echoed back to the console.

"He'll be fine," Rose said, slipping her arms around his waist from behind. The Doctor sighed and turned to kiss his wife.

"He's so much like you. Wanderin' off all the time."

"Excuse me, _I'm_ not the one who taught him how to put together his own sonic screwdriver. At _six_."

The Doctor made a face before pulling away and walking over to check the console. Rose took a seat in the hammock that hung between two of the corals and watched him.

This life didn't come easy. They both fought for it and (more often than not) over it. The first few months were messy and exhausting and so _human_. Not only was the Doctor getting over the loss of the essentials of what he used to be, and struggling with the weight of so many worlds, but Rose was getting over the loss of the two most important people in her life.

There was anger, regret, tears, slamming doors and awkward silences.

There was jealousy. Even the Doctor came to realize the mark the Asgardian left on Rose Tyler.

There was cowardice. Both of them tried to run, tried to forget.

But there was also love. And strength. They decided to overcome all of that, together. Brick by brick they grew a new life along with their new TARDIS. And they found happiness, too.

As Rose watched her remarkable and oh so human husband work his own magic on the innards of the TARDIS, she couldn't help but think that all of her life was built on love and the courage to fight for it. It was a part of her, more than anything else. And the man in front of her was such a huge part of that shaping of her destiny.

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"Being you."

The Doctor's face broke into a stunning grin. He leaped up.

"C'mon, let's go see if Al found the water park yet."

"You added a _water park?_"

"Course not," the human Time Lord winked. "Just a swimming pool. _Well,_ there is a water slide. _Well_…a water slide and a high dive. Drop right into it as you walk through the door. Pretty brilliant design, if I do say so myself."

"Doctor."

"Yes?"

"You're forgetting our son doesn't know how to swim yet."

The Doctor blanched, and then bolted.

"_ALISTAAAIIIRRRR!_"


	17. Look

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Seventeen: Look

0o0o0o0o0o0

The rain pounded the roof of the house as he sat on the edge of his bed, leaning his arms on his thighs as he stared blankly at the floor.

She must have been gone nearly ten minutes by now, having ran back to Torchwood. It was ridiculous really, to feel like this. Over this blasted human woman. He instigated the fight on purpose anyway; she behaved exactly how he expected. The dimension canon was nearly ready, and Rose needed to focus on getting everything right. On getting to her Doctor.

But his limbs felt too heavy, and his knuckles were white with the grip he had on his knees.

Why did it seem like he was losing everything again?

After a while Loki made his way to the kitchen, and poured himself a glass of wine, and then another. Not that it would do much; Midgardian alcohol was laughingly weak. But it was better than nothing. Eventually he took the whole bottle to his armchair and flipped on the record player with a snap of his fingers.

Loki had refined his taste in music while on Earth, and it came as a surprise to him (as did many things—chips and ketchup for instance) that he actually found this blues genre to be quite remarkable. Love, desire, happiness—the blues showed just how twisted and painful those emotions can be. A single look can lift you to highest ecstasy or leave you screaming in despair.

Rose, for example, had this maddening tendency to bore holes through his very being by simply staring at him.

With a harrumph at that particular thought, he choked back another mouthful of meager wine.

He did not recall having this much trouble with a female back on Asgard. And frankly, Rose had neither the power nor the breeding of half the women he courted. But no matter how much he successfully manipulated her, cheated her, or charmed her for his own gain, Loki could not help but admire Rose.

Any Asgardian (or Jotun for that matter) could destroy her and everything she held dear in an instant, and yet Loki dreaded the very thought of facing down that world-weary, stubborn woman and her fearsome brown eyes. His lies seemed to grow dry and sour on his tongue after so many months of keeping her company.

Was he a coward? Or just smitten—a fool brought to his knees by a pretty face?

The rain and Freddie King continued to accompany the fallen god's thoughts, even when the object of said thoughts returned late in the evening. Rose said nothing as she entered the house and saw him sitting quietly in the living room. Her eyes noted the empty wine bottle at his feet, and merely stared at him for a second before heading to her bedroom. Other than a hardly perceptible twitch of his shoulder, Loki hid his discomfort well.

Coward or fool?

_With my luck,_ he thought with a sigh, _it's both._


	18. Summer

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Eighteen: Summer

0o0o0o0o0o0

"There are no such seasons where I am from," Loki was telling her.

"Really?" she asked, trying to sound leisurely. The dark-haired alien rarely spoke of his home planet unless he was truly relaxed, and Rose didn't want to disturb the lazy peace that had fallen between them. She stretched out on her stomach and played with a dandelion stem.

"Do you like it? This warming and cooling process? It seems tiresome," he stated, his calculating green eyes watching her fingers brush over the fluffy seeds.

"Some places in the world stay the same temperature year-round," Rose shrugged. "I like the change, I suppose. I'd get bored with just snow or rain or sun all the time." Loki hummed in understanding. He made a motion with his hand, and the seeds of the dandelion patch flew off in a sudden puff of wind. Rose jerked in surprise and then turned to swat at his leg playfully. He just smirked and shifted to his stomach, mirroring Rose as he propped himself up on his forearms.

"Midgard is the only planet in the World Tree that changes like this," he murmured, looking out over the field. A playground was visible a few hundred yards away, and the screams of children drifted over. "Everywhere else is steady, stable. Predictable."

"Do _you_ like it?" Rose asked. Loki sighed thoughtfully. He then leaned his chin on a hand, angling his reclined body towards hers as he studied her. Rose couldn't help but remember how wasted, angry, and disheveled the man before her was merely five months ago. In some ways he was still all of those things, but the dark circles under his eyes had disappeared, and his eyes lacked that simmering madness and desperation.

She didn't want to think about what could have happened to him had she not knocked him out of the Void.

"Perhaps I am beginning to acquire a certain fondness for this spinning rock." He smiled at her then, a genuine thing that melted the countless eons from his face and made her heart stutter for a moment. "Although I have to say your winters are truly fierce. Let's say the next time you're called to Russia, you leave me in Texas or something, eh?"

"Oh c'mon, Guns. It wasn't that bad," Rose giggled. "Besides, if you don't have winter, you can't really enjoy summer, can you?" She poked his chest.

"Point taken," Loki said, his expression softening again. A breeze rose up and caught at Rose's hair, pushing it in front of her face. Before she could reach up to move the strands out of her eyes, another hand was already there. Long, cool fingers brushed her temple and cheek to tuck her hair behind her ear. Rose's voice was stuck in her throat as she realized Loki was very, very close to her. His expression was intense and unreadable, but his eyes were locked onto hers. It was like he was searching for something.

A breath later, he dipped his head down and brushed his lips to hers. It was exceedingly gentle, almost reverent. A shock went up her spine, and then it was soothed by a stroke of Loki's thumb at her temple. Warmth flooded her body, a bubbling bliss that—to her disappointment—only lasted a handful of heartbeats before Loki pulled away.

"_That _was for last week," Loki crooned, his face smug as anything as he drank in Rose's slowly reddening cheeks. "Now we're even."

Part of her (the one that wasn't pin-point focused on the lingering feeling of Loki's tongue across her bottom lip) realized he was as nervous as she was, if the seemingly unconscious drumming of his fingers on his thigh was any indication.

"Oi, no gettin' smart on me over that," Rose teased. "You _liked_ it, don't lie." The drumming stopped, and Loki winked at her.

"I've had better."

"You're such an arse."

Loki quirked an eyebrow and smiled mockingly.

"You _liked_ it, don't lie."


	19. Transformation

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Nineteen: Transformation

0o0o0o0o0o0

Hopping up and into the Time Vortex wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do after regeneration.

Granted, Rose was reeling from the shock as well as the exhilaration. She had been home-bound for nearly five years, and all of a sudden all of her limbs were working in peak condition.

It started with a headache. At first Rose blamed it on the jazz blasting through the TARDIS walls as she worked on steering the box to Gamma Violet 137, her favorite vacation spot when she and the Doctor—

But then, like a hammer to a nail, the pain drove a spike through her body. She fell to her knees gasping. Technicolor swirls danced in her vision, and she hiccuped. A puff of gold smoke came out.

"Tea—" Rose realized, struggling to her feet. Unfortunately, she still wasn't quite used to the longer legs the Bad Wolf bestowed upon her in this new body. She stumbled awkwardly to the corridor, determined to reach the kitchen before she fell into that useless sleep.

She didn't make it.

She dreamed of darkness, hallucinated pain and strange lights. When she finally came to, Rose was burning with fever. Through her half-consciousness, she saw that the TARDIS had somehow brought her into the kitchen. Gathering as much strength and determination she could muster, Rose grasped the cabinets for purchase to lever herself upright. After much fumbling and two shattered cups, she managed to steep a bag.

It was scalding and bitter, but she gulped it down anyway. The slow burn in her brain faded and she began to hack, coughing out a few more spurts of gold until the sickness evaporated entirely.

Rose waited a minute to catch her breath, and then laughed.

"Super-heated infusion of free-radicals and tannin, just the thing for healing the synapses!" she cried out in fond remembrance. With a kick in her step, she jogged back to the console room.

"Well, girl," she chuckled as she patted a coral strut. "That was one adventure. Ready for the next?"

0o0o0o0o0o0

Returning to Asgard was a blur, a cacophony of sound and color as he was frog-marched to the All-Father and through his trial.

Vaguely he could hear his brother vouch for him, saying his actions were borne of madness and poison, but mostly all of his senses were being bombarded with a horrible ripping sensation in his head. Even as he went through the necessary motions to indicate his mental as well as physical presence in Asgard, Loki was screaming inside. A war was waging inside of his mind as the Other scrambled to hold his control and Loki lashed at every chink in the darkness. Thanos wanted to use the trickster god even as he was out of his reach. As much as Loki would love to see Odin fall under the wrath of Thanos, he had had enough of the madness, of being a puppet on a string.

He did not care that Odin's men tortured him, trying to pry out the knowledge of the world of the Chitauri and the one they called the Would-Be-King. Loki had enough magic inside of him to divert the pain. The constant voice of the Other distracted from the rest, yet after some time even that began to stutter and fade.

But the poison left a trail, even as it ran its course. He could feel it in the back of his consciousness, like a cage unlocked. He could hear whispers of thought and see galaxies spinning and exploding in his mind's eye. It frightened him and infuriated him all at once. What was the point of it all?

Would there be no peace for him?

The nights Loki could not bring himself to plot his escape were devoted to reconstructing his memory—a tedious, painful, and nearly impossible process. The Other's magic was insidious. Many were gone completely and there was hardly a thought that wasn't tainted by it.

The Bad Wolf lied. He was broken and mad and left to rot in the bowels of Asgard. His prison was covered in Runes to strip him of his powers. Only his will to survive and his desire for freedom kept him from falling into despair.

0o0o0o0o0o0

_The bond is changing, sisters. The drums of war will soon begin._

"Excellent."


	20. Sunset

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Twenty/Twenty-One: Tremble & Sunset

**Author's Note:** Since this website does not allow smut, please message me if you want to read Tremble. If you don't wish to read Tremble, then basically just know that Loki and Rose just had sex.

0o0o0o0o0o0

I was already awake and dressed before the sun, leaving Rose undisturbed in her bedroom. As the Midgardian sky purpled and grew brighter I sat on the beach outside the house, desperate to clear my head.

Last night was borne of lust, I told myself. Nothing more, at least on her end. Passion often sparks out of life-threatening situations, and humans are prey to their emotions far more than the Aesir. .

The matter of indulgence was not what disturbed me, it was what Rose whispered to me in the heat of our embrace.

A shiver went through me, and I suddenly found myself torn. It had been so easy to play the fence, keeping the woman's eyes on me and yet pushing her away enough to continue her work with the dimension canons. To find her way back to that Time Lord.

This was not going according to plan, but I was good at changing tactics when the odds turned against me. No, the problem was the end game—and considering the possibility that I might wish to change it.

_Disastrous, asinine foolishness,_ I snapped at the thought. _You have to go back. There is nothing for you here, no power, no future. And certainly no Rose Tyler._

"I guessed you'd be the type to sneak off after sex. At least I caught your name."

"I simply wished to enjoy this fine morning," I said, my voice much smoother than I felt.

"Don't be like that."

"Like what?"

"Like we didn't just fuck."

A chuckle left my lips unbidden. I forget how farinaceous this woman could be sometimes. I could only imagine how the court of Asgard would welcome this uncultured Earth child with her vinegar chips and coarse words.

Rose took a seat beside me, drawing her knees to her chest as she stared out across the Channel. The horizon was pink and orange now, the sun would rise up any moment. Her face was calm, but the slight wrinkle on her brow signaled a seriousness that aged her beyond her appropriate youth.

"Something on your mind, Rose Tyler?" I asked. Sharp brown eyes met mine, and I was confused by the misery and confusion in them.

"Please don't call me that," she whispered. I swallowed and looked away, recognizing the tone. Only one subject made her react in such a way.

"I suspect you are not here to keep me company until the sun goes down again," I muttered. I felt her eyes on me, boring into the side of my head.

"No, 'fraid not." Her voice was gentle, and filled with restrained sorrow. "Loki, I'm not sure how to put this without soundin' like a complete arse…" Rose trailed off, and I saw her fingers anxiously pick at her loose black trousers.

"Rose, it's alright. You do not need to explain to—"

"But I do!" she snapped. I looked up at her, keeping a lock on the frustration that was starting to build. "Wha' I said, I meant it. But you gotta know that I really don't want you to get the wrong idea. All the work with the canon, gettin' the stars back, that's gotta be me. I'm gonna continue workin' to find a way back to my world—"

"Rose," I interrupted, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I understand. I'm just your roommate. Nothing more."

"That's not true, Loki," she protested, her face painfully earnest. "You've got to know this. I hate to think what would've happened to you if I didn't…I want you to be okay. You're my friend, and you're important to me."

"The stars are more important."

Her expression told me all I needed to know about where her convictions lie. So the choice was taken from me. Once again Rose Tyler proved wiser than even she realized.

And I hated her for it.

Rose groaned when her cell rang from the house.

"I'm sorry, I—I gotta go."

"Of course."

I could not bring myself to watch her leave. Instead I focused on the rise of the sun over the sea, until it disappeared hours later and the world grew dark once more.


	21. Mad

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Twenty-Two: Mad

0o0o0o0o0o0

The door shook with the amount of force she used to slam it behind her.

"Miss Tyler, may I—"

Rose shut up her parent's butler with a single glare as she stomped off towards the wine cellar with plans to stay there for the next few hours.

It did not take long for her mother to catch up; Rose heard footsteps down the stairwell just as she was muscling in the corkscrew on a bottle of red.

"Rose Marion Tyler, what on _earth_ are you goin' on about?"

"I can't do this anymore, Mum," Rose said bitterly as she yanked at the cork with a sharp _pop_. "I'm tired of bein' supportive and understandin' and the goddamn emotional bag-boy all the time."

Jackie examined her daughter critically. It had hardly been a week since Bad Wolf Bay, and it looked like the only time the girl slept was on the zeppelin back from that beach. She warned Rose not to go back to work, to try and get some rest and slow down after saving the universe once more. But, as usual, Rose was too stubborn to see that she was running herself into the ground.

"Alright love," Jackie sighed, reaching into the cabinet as well. "How 'bout you pour me a glass and you can tell your mum what that Doctor did to you now?"

Rose knew better to argue, and the two of them ended up in the quiet sitting room adjacent to the cellar.

"Why the hell do I have to be the one to make him better?" Rose snapped. "I swear this one is too much like the last. He doesn't give a rat's arse if he hurts someone. Completely mental, he is."

"You're exhausted, sweetheart," Jackie told her. "Anybody would be, after the hell you just been through."

"That's not it, though. I swear the universe is conspiring to dump as many poor broken sobs on me that it can. I'm not some fucking _antidote_ for every genocidal alien with a god complex."

"Granted, one _did_ turn out to be a god."

"And at least he cared enough to lie to me if it made me feel better," Rose grumbled before she could stop herself. She passed a hand over her face, and let out a mirthless chuckle. "Loki and the Doctor. What a pair those two would make, ruinin' my life and making me fall for them at the same time. What's wrong with me? Am I just a magnet for failed love stories?"

"Rose, you want to know why you keep attractin' all the wrong sorts? It's not because you are stupid, or selfish, or weak," Jackie Tyler said. "It's because you are _good_. You are everything that's right and true to this world. You are a shinin' light to people who are lost. My baby…you are so amazin'. You faced monsters of every shape and size, and you defeated them all. How can these Lokis and Doctors _not _love you?"

Rose's eyes began to sting, and she stared up at the ceiling, forcing herself to stay calm.

"I miss him, Mum," she choked out. "And this Doctor is all I've got and I'm afraid I'm gonna lose him, too." Jackie didn't need to ask who she was talking about, but she took her daughter's hand as she swallowed back tears.

"Rose, let me tell ya somethin' about relationships. They aren't gonna work if only one of ya's puttin in the time. You've changed, sweetie, even if the Doctor can't quite see that yet. You've got your own issues to sort out. If the Doctor loves you, he'll realize that he needs to take time to care for you, too."

"I guess you're right," Rose sighed with a watery smile. "I just hope he'll listen to me for once."

"Oh he better," Jackie said with a tight grin. "Or else he'll be answerin' to _me_."


	22. Thousand

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Twenty-Three: Thousand

0o0o0o0o0o0

One tells the tale of the golden girl working in a shop, never leaving her country, never learning about the stars.

Another has the Time War destroying all of creation.

And yet another brings the trickster god and the god of thunder in harmonious leadership of the Nine Realms.

Every turn of the wheel, a thread is spun. A destiny arises and falls based on one decision, a single choice. Or the accumulation of many choices. Or the elimination of choice altogether.

Very few beings know the span of choice. The one known as Loki and the other known as the Doctor are alike in this sense. The impact of cause and effect is a pervasive theme throughout all universes.

But sometimes even they forget the journey's end as they play their parts in the shaping of their universes. They forget the little things, the tiny nuances of the people and places.

A squeeze of a hand in the dark.

A completely inappropriate chuckle.

The breathlessness of falling through the Void only to be saved by an insignificant alien.

The itch to touch the golden threads before she pulls away again.

They forget the innumerable ways Rose Tyler seeps into their hearts.

Humans, in this sense, are so different. All they see are the little things; the argument never solved, the towel left on the floor, the tearing indecision of daily life.

Then there are other ways to define the universe.

It's the counting of the worlds Rose visits after she loses the Doctor.

It's the days left before Ragnarok.

It's the times Loki refused to break under the Other's poison, thinking of the promise of a goddess who chose someone else.

It's the moves of a great game of chess played by masters and novices.

It's the number of games played to determine the fate of existence.

Thousands, my dear followers. These are merely thousands of reasons why Rose Tyler and Loki Laufeyson are tied together.

They will not like it and there will be more pain—but these are magnificent players. Do not lose hope just yet.


	23. Outside

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Twenty-Four: Outside

0o0o0o0o0o0

"C'mon Loki! Sif was just joking. Come back to the courtyard and we can settle this." The door to the closet swung open. "There you are."

Loki wished he had listened more closely to his tutor about warding doors.

"Leave me alone."

"And what, leave you here to plot her demise?"

"I am not—" Loki huffed, fists clenching in frustration. Why did everyone always think the worst of him? Well, he_was_ planning on getting back at Sif for making fun of him. But that did not erase the fact that he had not been bothering her in the first place.

"I'll make her apologize," Thor told his brother earnestly. "Want me to challenge her to a duel?" Loki realized the poor dull boy was trying to smooth things over, as usual. He could not help but grudgingly appreciate the haphazard attempt.

"You can't fight my battles for me, Thor," Loki muttered. "It just makes everything worse."

Thor sobered.

"Listen—"

"Just go back. I'm fine here." Thor gave a second thought about arguing, knowing full well when Loki could not be budged.

"We'll be in the courtyard," he said. "I'll try to talk to Sif. She shouldn't've said those things. You aren't…you're my brother. And a prince of Asgard. They should give you the respect you deserve."

Loki picked at the splintered wood on the floor as Thor's footsteps faded back down the corridor.

He was always different. There was no escaping his brother's friends and their distrustful eyes when they spied the magic-leaning younger son of Odin. While Thor had no qualms about his brother and his unique abilities, even the golden-haired boy had a hard time empathizing with Loki.

So he observed. Loki took their teasing and shoves in stride because he knew better. He knew how to get back at them well enough to keep their violent natures at bay, and he knew how to escape them if he overreached.

It was enough, to be able to ghost in and out of their merry worlds when he could. Sometimes when Sif would clap him on the shoulder after a particularly good battle, or Volstagg shared a drink with him, he could even forget that nagging feeling that he was not one of them, and never would be.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Nothing has changed. They still look at him like he's about to bite them, but at least this time they are more open with their disgust. They shout abuse, they hit and poke and slice when they can. But their fear is so obvious it is laughable.

Pitiful creatures, the lot of them. No better than humans.

And here he sits, the fallen king, forever locked outside the realm of order and righteousness. Funny, really. Hilarious, if he thought about it more.

Although, this time around, he would choose to dye his brother's hair pink.

Rose would laugh.


	24. Winter

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Twenty-Five: Winter

0o0o0o0o0o0

At 36 degrees Fahrenheit water freezes.

Ethanol freezes at -114.6 degrees Celcius.

At absolute zero thermal energy of matter vanishes.

And, some say, there is a freezing point where existence itself stops.

This is where They live.

0o0o0o0o0o0

**The time comes, sisters.**

_The trap is laid, the players set._

_**There will be no return from Winter. The Snake and the Wolf will leave destruction and death and chaos in the wake of their anger. And Time will stop.**_

**For now we wait, will wait, have waited with bated breath.**

_They cannot outrun their past._

**They do not understand their present.**

_**They will not have a future.**_

**Unless…**

_Unless…_

_**Unless…**_

**They can find the** _threads of their destiny._

_**And give what is owed to us.**_


	25. Diamond

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Twenty-Six: Diamond

0o0o0o0o0o0

Some days were better than others, the days where he actually felt autonomy over his own thoughts. Part of him was grateful for the wards put in place to isolate and secure his body; it gave him time and energy to sort through the chaos and roaring in his head.

Today was not one of those better days.

Flashes of blood and the stench of the Other filled his senses, choking him as he struggled to push back the chilling laughter of his captor. The stars were going out again, and his stomach churned as he spied a Chitauri standing over the motionless body of a blonde woman. His mouth opened in a soundless scream as claws ripped and jaws snapped.

With a sudden onslaught of clarity, he found himself yelling at nothing as he pounded at his cage.

Loki tried to calm himself. No use giving his wardens more ammunition to mock him. A shaking hand reached out to grasp his cot and lever his weak and undernourished body to sit.

He did not want to sleep. Sleep was just another war zone that crossed him back over into madness. But eventually he succumbed at the shadows creeping over his vision.

At first her consciousness in his was like a balm over his battered mind. He had been fighting the poison over his will for too long, it was nearly impossible to distinguish relief from pain to the black mindlessness of unconsciousness.

But then he realized what he was seeing and doing, and a torrent of emotions washed over him. If he was not completely aware that he was asleep, he would have assumed he was dreaming. But unlike the Other's nightmares and demons that were sent to him night after night there was no escaping this particularly sweet torture.

He did not wish to escape, either. Whether the complacence was out of some perverse sense of masochism or out of desire to have the slightest scrap of false happiness, he was not entirely sure. It was like all those nights, sitting outside Rose's bedroom, seeking out that thread he eventually was able to latch onto without giving a thought. It felt like soothing terror and fear of his beloved, and seeking solace within her peace.

It felt like home.

Loki was, however, lost to the joy that was not really his, nor was it his to give.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Hey! You're back! They didn't 'ave banana at the grocer, so I got you chocolate." A calm and beautiful Rose Tyler rounded the corner of the living room and nearly ran into him.

"What—what are you doin' here? You're supposed to be—"

"Gone?"

"Uh. Yeah."

"I…I cannot quite recall," Loki lied, hoping that she would just believe he was part and parcel of her own dreamscape. Humans were even more gullible in their dreams, after all.

"Oh, well…" she blinked, accepting the sudden appearance of the black and green clad alien in her living room. "Glad you're back."

"Who were you expecting?"

"The Doctor. Should be back any minute. I can set another place at the table—"

"That won't be necessary. I am not planning on staying for long." He wished he could. He could almost smell the perfume Rose used so often that she apparently wore it in her dreams. "He lives here, then—the Time Lord? Do you feel obligated to rehabilitate him into domestic life?"

"No, that would be ridiculous. I mean, I can't just leave my husband to wander the streets homeless, can I?"

Oh, how he hated the sheer honesty of the human subconscious.

"You are _married_?" Loki managed to reel in the venom attached to the word and substitute something that sounded more like detached interest.

"We will be, in December," Rose said, fumbling with the ring on her finger, almost like she wanted to hide it.

"Congratulations," he replied almost too quickly. "Really, I wish you two the best."

"Loki."

"Hmm?"

"Are you alright?"

"Always," he bit off, shooting her a sharp grin. He tugged away from her hand, part of him ripping apart from the need to touch her again. Even if it was just a ghost of what had been and would never be again.

The diamond of her engagement ring twinkled as she faded from his sight.


	26. Letters

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Twenty-Seven: Letters

0o0o0o0o0o0

It took eleven days for Rose to bring herself to enter his room. The Doctor was staying at her parents' house at the moment. He was sensitive to the fact that she needed time to clean out the former occupant's room; although he did comment on the length of time after the sixth day.

Tonight was the final night she allowed herself to procrastinate.

The wine swished in her glass as she stared down the hallway. All the lights were on, and the doorknob glared back at her from her perch on the back of the couch. The alcohol stung a cut on her lip as she took another drink.

She hated herself for caring so much.

Finally Rose gathered her courage and hopped down, letting the glass shatter behind her as she stalked toward the room of her house that felt like a war zone.

It was dark as the door swung open. Loki had always made sure to conserve energy, the bloody asshole.

With an almost negligent flick of her finger, the lights came up on his room.

The bed was made, but everything else was chaos. A shirt was thrown over a chair, which had been up-ended. DVDs that the two of them watched together so many weeks ago were stacked haphazardly on the top of books, the television, and even his abandoned shoes.

What made the room his own were the Post-Its scattered around every bare inch of wall. She remembered him walking around with her on the street, muttering to himself in some unknown language and sketching out notes on that ridiculous stack of green squares.

Rose never understood the strange stick-like lettering in his neat hand, and never pressed him to translate. Without the TARDIS language interface helping her understand alien speech and writing, she never could.

Part of her idly wondered if the Doctor would translate the notes for her, but she dismissed the idea almost as soon as it came. Since, of course, she came to realize that she could finally read the words of the lost god.

Some were unintelligible equations and figures of stars and world-systems, apparently from his universe. But others were reminders, letters to himself, notes about her world and her family…but mostly—she realized with a lump in her throat—they were about_ her_.

_Tony likes cake, hates ants. Reminder to keep his present inside the house._

_Humans have little understanding of Xanatos' Gambit. Use to full potential._

_Rose forgets the milk_

_Spell power decrease at 30%, strength untouched by universe switch._

_Buy Stevie V's new album._

_Rose—a flora found in most areas of Midgard, gifts as sign of affection_

_Remind Rose to meet at Gilf's for chips_

_Sapphire or quartz? Blue looks better on R but she likes pink…_

_Rose wants—_

_Rose is—_

_Rose—_

_Rose…_

Little did Rose know (as she ripped down the remnants of the life she shared with Loki for too brief a period of time) the Doctor was already developing the tiny fragment of the TARDIS in a makeshift lab at the Tyler mansion. T-Too, as Rose would come to affectionately call the green police box, felt obligated to keep communications open for the Doctor and his companion as her infant sentience developed.

T-Too was intelligent and could see into the expanse of Time from her mother universe as well as the one she found herself borne into. She could see the impossible connections the blonde one forged with the fallen Ice Prince, and knew that _her _destiny was to keep those threads taut.

The pup was too easily discouraged from her own worth, and T-Too thought it best to remind Rose that Loki cared, as much as he hated to do so.


	27. Promise

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Twenty-Eight: Promise

0o0o0o0o0o0

It was the first time Loki would traverse this Midgard alone, and Rose seemed to take it in stride. Perhaps_too_ much in stride, in his opinion, as she hardly spoke of his upcoming trip to Moscow and the handful of times that she did it was to complain about the inconveniency of the flight times.

Pete had chosen Loki to attend what appeared to be a nuclear program committee meeting at Russia's top-secret alien research facility while Rose would manage the logistics back at Torchwood HQ. Loki's shapeshifting powers were the main draw to this particular assignment.

The drive to the airport was mostly silent, save for a few comments from Rose shot down by increasingly snarky replies from Loki.

"Let me know if you run into any problems, alright?" Rose told him when they pulled up to Departures, looking like she was reigning in her frustration.

"Do not concern yourself with me, Miss Tyler," he mocked. "I doubt you would be of any help regardless, and you have bigger things to worry about."

He was caught off-guard by a tug at his collar as he was pulled down at an awkward angle to meet the eyes of a very irritated Rose.

"Do you really think I'm just gonna leave you hangin' if this goes pear-shaped?" Rose snarled, fisting the front of his shirt. He could not help but admire her tenacity, and—while he would never admit it—was humbled by her quick loyalty. He suppressed the sudden desire to kiss this wild-eyed woman. That wouldn't do at all. "I will come if you call me. And even if you don't, and I get wind that you're in trouble, I will be there. Do you understand me Guns?"

"Understood," he murmured.

"Great."

"Good."

There was a pause as Rose still held tight to Loki, their faces close enough to feel each other breathe.

"I suppose I should—"

"No. I mean, yeah." She let go of his shirt like it bit her, and Loki got out of the Jeep, grabbing the canvas pack in front of the seat. Before he left, however, he leaned down to take one last look at her pink face.

"Oh, and Roses?"

"Hmm?"

"The offer is mutual. Do not hesitate to call me for anything. I do not care if you are trapped by a Sliveen or an attack Chihuahua—never doubt that I will be there if you need me."

Rose smiled, a thing that never failed to shoot a ribbon of warmth into his chest.

"Good luck, then. And keep that phone charged."

Loki gave her a cocky salute and hefted the pack over his shoulder. He shut the car door and headed to the sliding glass doors.

In the end, Rose did have to come to his rescue, but it was not hostile extraterrestrials or Midgardian terrorists with dangerous technology that hindered Loki's journey. It was an issue with customs, hardly twenty minutes after she dropped him off at his gate. Apparently his entire body made everything from the metal detector to the dogs go haywire.

They ended up going to Moscow together by Jeep, thinking that driving across Europe would be easier with an official Torchwood vehicle. Of course, that did not go as planned due to a rather sticky situation in the middle of Switzerland involving bumper cars and horned cats.

But that is an adventure to be told another time.


	28. Simple

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Twenty-Nine: Simple

0o0o0o0o0o0

Loki realized that he was in love with Rose when she offered to take him out for chips to celebrate not being slimed by a carnivorous mutant snail.

Rose realized that she was in love with Loki as she stalled Torchwood from running the dimension cannon, hoping beyond hope that he would rush in and stop her at the last minute.

Love cannot change destiny, regardless of what fairytales tell you. Love is too fluid to make a change lasting enough. Saving the world requires tact and sacrifice and tragedy—no place for happy endings.

But.

If the time is right, and the wind is fair, sentiment shines a light in Fate's eye and blinds Her.

And—just for that moment—anything from a giant to a planet to a universe to a cold, desperate heart can be moved.


	29. Future

**Guns and Roses: The Drabble Challenge**

Thirty: Future

0o0o0o0o0o0

_Ten…_

Rose begins to fret about the time. Or rather, the absence of its passage. It is one thing to be human and lose track of an hour or two, but it is another to be caught unawares as a whole year passes you by…if you can trust the relative temporal meter in T-Too's console. It was only then (not the regeneration or the sensory enhancement or even the so very useful ability to absorb a dictionary in under twenty seconds) that Rose realized that she was no longer quite human.

_Nine…_

"_ROSE TYLER IS DEAD,"_ he screamed, twisting against the arms that held him back from tearing her throat out.

_Eight_…

He always did adore that stupid blue jacket. Even if it did not quite fit as it once did, Loki could not ignore the golden fire of the woman the faded leather contained.

_Seven…_

Be careful what you say in the presence of a Trickster God. Even if you once were in his favor.

_Six…_

Asgard was warned, long ago, about the Bad Wolf. Even the humans kept fragments of the omens sent down by the Norns, but Odin refused to believe the tales. To travel in time and scatter words across the cosmos—that was sorcery lost with Gallifrey and the Time Lords. They were are all dead and gone…or so Odin thought.

_Five…_

"You really think you are a match for me? You are nothing, Bad Wolf. _I_ control you now."

_Four…_

Your time is up, Loki Laufeyson.

_The winds of Hel are calling for the blood of the betrayers._

**Try not to scream too loudly, will you? You might wake Jormungandr.**

Oh wait…

_You already did._

_Three…_

Two worlds. One shriveled root on the World Tree. Castaways fighting to the death, because if you cannot fight the thing you hate, how can you possibly learn to find the one you love?

_Two…_

"I told you I would come whenever you would call, Guns. Even if you are bloody well certifiably insane. At least it isn't London. Torchwood would have a field day with paperwork."

_One…_

"Don't leave me. Please. Not again."

0o0o0o0o0o0

**The End**

0o0o0o0o0o0

I'll be back with the sequel to _Shadow of your heart_ and the Drabble Challenge tomorrow:

**_Stolen Stars_**.


End file.
